Ham and Cheese Buns, A Chinese Bakery Treat

As a child stepping up to any Chinese bakery case––be it in Chinatown or, more typically, an Asian grocery store in a non-descript New Jersey strip mall––there was one item that I always overlooked: the ham and cheese bun.

There was something about those ham and cheese buns that never sat well with me. Perhaps it was the vaguely rubbery-looking white cheese, or the dry, pink ham that bore a striking resemblance to that something you might find in a can.

Long story short, I’ve basically NEVER eaten a ham and cheese bun from a Chinese bakery, always going for a much more wholesome coconut bun, pineapple bun, or red bean bun instead.

Well folks, today, all that changes. Because now that we have our trusty milk bread recipe (I know there are probably a bunch of regular TWOL readers out there who just want us to get OVER the unhealthy obsession we have with that recipe, but…we’re clearly not over it. We know it’s a problem, and you’ll just have to bear with us.), I’m taking that lowly government cheese/canned ham version of this Chinese bakery staple and upping the quality level a bit.

Trust me, get your favorite sliced ham from the deli case and whatever good melting cheese you can get your hands on, and make these buns. You won’t regret it. I made twelve of these bad boys last weekend, and they were gone within 24 hours (thanks to various neighborhood taste testers, who all gave their hearty stamp of approval).

The best part is? Ham and cheese buns totally qualify as a 24-hour kind of food. Like the humble pizza bagel, you can eat these in the morning, you can eat them in the evening. You can eat them at supper time. When ham & cheese is in a milk bread bun, you can eat them anytime.

Did I pull off that reference? I’m not sure I did. It’s fine; you guys get me.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, add the heavy cream, milk, egg, sugar, cake flour, bread flour, yeast, and salt. Use the dough hook attachment, and turn on the mixer to “stir.” Let it go for 15 minutes, occasionally stopping the mixer to push the dough together. If you’re in a humid climate and the dough is too sticky, feel free to add a little more flour 1/4 cup at a time until it comes together. If you don’t have a mixer and would like to knead by hand, extend the kneading time by 5-10 minutes.

After 15 minutes of mixing, the dough is ready for proofing. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and place in a warm spot for 1 hour. I proofed the dough in my oven (I had the oven on rapid proof for 5 minutes, turned the oven off, and then closed the oven door). The dough will grow to 1.5X its original size.

After the hour of proofing, put the dough back in the mixer and stir for another 5 minutes to get rid of air bubbles. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and cut it into 12 equal pieces. Roll out each piece into a rough oval/rectangle shape, and lay the ham and cheese on top.

Roll everything together into a log, and cut three slits into the top of each bun (about 1/2 inch deep).

Continue assembling until all the buns are made. Cover with a clean, damp towel and allow to rise on a half sheet pan for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the risen ham and cheese buns with egg wash and bake for 20-24 minutes until golden.

Remove from the oven, place on a cooling rack and brush the buns with sugar water to give them a really great shine, sweetness, and color.

These Chinese bakery ham and cheese buns freeze and reheat very nicely in the microwave or the toaster oven. Make a batch today and freeze them for morning breakfast treats!

In the bowl of a mixer, add the heavy cream, milk, egg, sugar, cake flour, bread flour, yeast, and salt. Use the dough hook attachment, and turn on the mixer to “stir.” Let it go for 15 minutes, occasionally stopping the mixer to push the dough together. If you're in a humid climate and the dough is too sticky, feel free to add a little more flour ¼ cup at a time until it comes together. If you don't have a mixer and would like to knead by hand, extend the kneading time by 5-10 minutes.

After 15 minutes of mixing, the dough is ready for proofing. Cover the bowl with a damp towel and place in a warm spot for 1 hour. I proofed the dough in my oven (I had the oven on rapid proof for 5 minutes, turned the oven off, and then closed the oven door). The dough will grow to 1.5X its original size.

After the hour of proofing, put the dough back in the mixer and stir for another 5 minutes to get rid of air bubbles. Dump the dough onto a lightly floured surface, and cut it into 12 equal pieces. Roll out each piece into a rough oval/rectangle shape, and lay the ham and cheese on top. Roll everything together into a log, and cut three slits into the top of each bun (about ½ inch deep). Continue assembling until all the buns are made. Cover with a clean, damp towel and allow to rise for another hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the risen buns with egg wash and bake for 20-24 minutes until golden. Remove from the oven and brush the buns with sugar water to give them a really great shine, sweetness, and color.

33 Comments

Hey Michelle, some ovens have proofing settings that create warm environments in the oven for allowing dough to rise. If your oven doesn’t have this feature, no worries at all. Just put the dough in a warm place to rise.

(I hope this isn’t a duplicate posting). I was looking for a way to use up the leftover Easter ham and remembered this recipe. It was a great idea and easy to make. I was concerned about using the (thickish) spiral cut ham slices, but they rolled up just fine. I used gouda for my cheese until I ran out and switched to swiss. It’s all good. The rolls remind me of our (Texas) Czech kolaches. Thanks for another great recipe.

OK…so I made these and they didn’t last long enough for me to take a picture! I did modifications due to not having cream on hand. I substituted condensed milk in the can and OMG!!!! So good. Also, I used pepper jack cheese for a kick–and because it’s all I had. These were delicious. I made the mistake of bringing them to work. Guess what’s expected at the next pot luck!?

The dough came together nicely in my bread machine, as I’m a lazy hobo that likes the use of tech. My son really enjoyed these and the whole house smelled incredible while they were baking.

I think I’m becoming addicted to this site. What am I to do? I suppose I’ll do more cooking.

Hi,just wanted to say that i tried making your recipe today and it tasted really good even though there were some slight problems like it took me almost 30mins to mix the dough because it was still sticky and i did add more bread flour to prevent that…also after it cools down,does it usually becomes hard afterwards(because thats what happens to mine)or does its texture remain soft?thank you for this…

Hi Mae, the buns will be a bit more firm after cooling, but if you want them to be soft and pillowy again, just pop them into the microwave for 20-30 seconds. Also be sure to store them in an airtight container, or they will dry out.

Hi.. I would really love to try these,i just want to confirm when making this we don’t need to activate the yeast anymore with warm water or milk?will just put it as is with the other ingredients?thank you

Baked this today (along with your hotdog buns recipe) and it’s so good ! I needed to add about 3/4 c. of flour as dough was having difficulty getting into a ball. Must be the humid weather we have here in the Philippines. Still bread turned out soft!

Thanks for sharing your recipes, for all the research and testing you do to ensure the recipes you post turn out fantastic results!!

Ok, so I told you I had to make these this weekend, well I did. These are so good! The dough is really nice to work with. Definitely a keeper:) I put 2 thin slices of ham between 2 slices of American cheese and rolled the dough a little thinner, it was perfect.

Those reminded us of some rustic, not-flaky croissants we ham and cheese we used to have when we were kids and visiting the countryside. Excellent recipe, and LOVED your technique dear Sarah! LOVED it!
We have some organic cured ham in the fridge and the only thing we need is…time:) This weekend sounds good for trying that!:)
Thank you guys, delicious idea!
xoxoxo

Oh this is heaven, I totally LOVE you guys.
I bake a new double batch of milk bread for our family every week, it’s their favorite, your “Chinese Hot dogs” are a HUGE hit as well, we are definitely not over that recipe either. :-D
No more hard crusted, doughy-in-the-middle ham & cheese calzones – this is gonna make one happy household at lunchtime in the near future. THANK YOU! :-)